A Work In Context
Their Eyes Were Watching God, written by Zora Neale Hurston in 1937 was the first love story written by an African-American author. It chronicles the life of Janie Crawford, a young girl who finds herself searching for love and a life that seems out of reach for an African-American woman in the early 20th century.
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Although now considered her most famous work, when Their Eyes Were Watching God first debuted, it was wildly criticized by the Black literary community. As the mistreatment of Black women by Black men is a major theme of the novel, many black male authors believed it was not the type of image that should be surfaced about Black men during the Harlem Renaissance, a time at which “The New Negro Movement” was the priority of many African Americans.
Historical context is critical to truly understanding Their Eyes Were Watching God. Use the following information to better understand how the historical context of the time impacted the points of view of different characters in the book.
Portrait of Zora Neale Hurston
